WTH? Lindsey Graham’s ‘pool room’ education

[babylonsister]

Posted with permission.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/lindsey-grahams-pool-room-education?CID=sm_fb_maddow

Lindsey Graham’s ‘pool room’ education
05/26/15 09:20 AM—Updated 05/26/15 09:26 AM
By Steve Benen


It was a few weeks ago when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) shared a pretty dumb observation with a Boston audience: “Everything that starts with ‘Al’ in the Middle East is bad news.” To bolster his point, the Republican even started rattling off some examples: al Qaeda, al-Nusra, al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, etc.

What Graham apparently didn’t realize is that “al,” is the Arabic word for “the.” One of the Republican Party’s most prominent voices on foreign affairs shared an insight that made him appear quite foolish.

At the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City, Graham didn’t make things any better. The BBC reported:

Senator Lindsey Graham, the first speaker Friday morning, appearing from Washington via video, spoke of losing his parents as a teenager, working in a pool hall and having to help raise his younger sister – and how it relates to his leadership style.

“Everything I learned about Iranians I learned working in the pool room,” he said. “I met a lot of liars, and I know Iranians are liars.”

In context, Graham didn’t seem to be arguing that Iranians were dishonest pool players in the South Carolina hall where he used to work, but rather, he got to know dishonest pool players, giving him finely tuned lie-detection skills, and those skills now tell him that Iranians are just like those pool sharks he used to know.

Iran, of course, is a nation of roughly 78 million people. Whether or not Graham knows any of them is unclear.

The National Iranian American Council was not impressed with the senator’s comments. “The senator’s repulsive remarks are racist, period,” NIAC President Trita Parsi said. “This type of discourse should have no place in American politics. Graham essentially admits to being a bigot, because nothing says ‘I’m stereotyping’ more than basing judgment of an entire people solely on a handful of interactions in a pool room.”

In the broader context, let’s not brush past the fact that Graham isn’t just some random guy spewing nonsense. He’s a senator, a presidential candidate, and a policymaker seen by the Beltway media as a leading GOP voice on matters of international affairs.

Perhaps it’s time for political observers to reconsider Graham’s reputation?

[bluesbassman]

1. The man will literally say anything to pander to his base.

Truly an odious person and it's disturbing that he is allowed anywhere near the levers of power in government.

[Angry Dragon]

7. Pander is just part of the name.......... G O (P)ander

[Doctor_J]

2. as the fifty or so candidates try to out republican each other, some really weird shit will be

trotted out. Enjoy the levity

[Botany]

3. how can anybody take graham seriously?

The man (Sec. Moniz) who helped to write the deal w/Iran on nuclear weapons has a PhD in Physics from Standford, taught physics @ MIT, and knows the nuclear fuel and weapons' cycle cold. He also got written into the deal that we can go anyplace @ anytime in Iran and inspect to make sure that Iran is living up to the deal for the next 20 years but good old Lindsey just knows it is a bad deal because he worked in a pool hall. What an ass hat.

[Dont call me Shirley]

4. So the pool hall is where you learned to lie so well, Lindsay?!

[erronis]

5. And he, of course, couldn't tell an Iranian from an Arab from a South American

The only thing that the Graham ilk have going for them is their willingness to take bribes (whoops, I mean contributions) and to spout talking point from civic-minded lobbyists like ALEC, NRA, KOCH, USCOC.

Too bad the IRS budget is being cut by the GOP so we can't investigate the influence buying.

[Ikonoklast]

6. He just called Persian people Arabs.

Good way to get punched in the nose by a Persian.

[Tom Ripley]

8. ^^^THIS^^^

[valerief]

9. Can anyone picture Lindsey Ladylips here?

?w=545

[okaawhatever]

13. He's in the bathroom.....wide stance, tapping his foot.............. nt

[trusty elf]

16. .......

[img][/img]

[valerief]

17. Ha! Thanks for making the Ladylips move!

[marble falls]

10. I hope he said that clearly on a tape somewhere!

[lofty1]

11. Thank goodness for the clarification

At first glance, I thought Lindsey had some kind of run in with some bad boy types from Iran, hanging out in pool halls in South Carolina during the 70's.

Now who is he trying to impress with that racist comment?

[jtuck004]

12. “I met a lot of liars" < So he decided to make a career out of it. n/t

[Volaris]

14. So Lindsey has got this Iranian thing pretty well covvered then..

I guess that means all of us smart people can go find something else to do now. DAMMITT!



Yeah, the Clown Car Show is going to be especially entertaining this go-round

[GOLGO 13]

15. Does he think that mentioning "hanging out in a pool room" over & over will make

the cool kids like him?

Shooting pool is ok. Hanging out at a pool hall was a thing back in the 70's. Republicans are so lame.

[edhopper]

18. Did he ever meet these guys

[img][/img]

[maddiemom]

19. The outrageous GOP pandering to the most ignorant among us is going to get

hysterically over the top long before their nominating convention. Prejudiced, blanket condemnation of any national, racial, or religious group was supposed to have been overcome by education in the last half century. (Yeah, right; but very discouraging as our national rationality just keeps sliding away).